After three seasons in syndication (mostly on Fox stations), UPN acquired the show from Saban Entertainment in 1996. The fourth and final season was used to launch UPN's new teen programming on September 15, 1997.[3][4] It then aired on The Fox Family Channel in 1998 until it became ABC Family in 2001. The show was also broadcast internationally, outside of the United States on BBC One[5] and Disney Channel in the UK,[6]Disney Channel in Sweden,[7] Fox Kids/Jetix in France,[8] Israel,[9] and Greece,[10] and on Fox Kids and Nickelodeon in the Netherlands.[11]
The series revolves around the lives of Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield, beautiful blonde twins who live in the fictitious Sweet Valley, California, and their gang of friends. Elizabeth is warm, friendly and sincere, while her twin sister Jessica is flirty, mischievous, and irresponsible.
Scott Foley had his acting debut in season two as Zack, kickstarting the career that would lead to him being a regular in Felicity, The Unit and Scandal.[18]
In 1988, NBC bought the television rights to the Sweet Valley High book series. The show was originally intended to be a two-hour NBC Family special, with the possibility of becoming a series.[20] In 1993, Francine Pascal mentioned in an interview that the rights to the books had been sold to Saban Entertainment.[21] The show finally aired as a half-hour television series in September 1994.[22]
Francine Pascal's daughter, Jamie Stewart, was the casting director and co-producer and held auditions throughout the country in 1988 for the lead roles of Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield.[23][24] Seven sets of twins were chosen from nearly 3000 entrants to do screen tests for NBC.[25][26] In 1989 it was announced that sixteen-year-old twins Ericka and Sonja Carson had been cast as the leads, with a two-hour pilot to be produced that summer.[27][28] The Carson twins went on to be cast as the Doublemint Twins in 1990[29] and attended acting classes in preparation for their Sweet Valley High roles[30], but the NBC pilot was never filmed.
In 1994 it was announced that eighteen-year-old sisters and another set of Doublemint Twins, Brittany Daniel and Cynthia Daniel, would be playing the leads in the series, which was now being produced by Saban Entertainment.[31][32]
The cast participated in several public appearances to promote the series, including one in with Sweet Valley High creator, Francine Pascal, at the Mall of America in 1995.[33] Another promotion included a competition to win a shopping spree with the Daniel twins.[34]
The cast members were close, with the Daniels twins sharing an apartment with co-star Amy Danles in 1996.[35] In 1999, Danles married Sweet Valley High co-star Manley Pope.[36][37]
Reception
The show drew in around 2 million viewers in its first four weeks.[38] As of 1996, the show was airing on 104 station across the United States during its third season.[39]
Upon its debut, the Houston Chronicle criticised the show, calling it "unrealistic and totally fantasy-oriented".[40]
The show was dubbed in several languages for its international release, including German[41], Greek[10], Hungarian, Italian[42], Lithuanian[43], in French as California College: Les Jumelles De Sweet Valley, in Czech as Sladké údolí, in Polish as Słodka dolina, in Portuguese as E Aí Galera, in Spanish as Mellizas y rivales (Latin America)[44] and Las gemelas de Sweet Valley (Spain)[45], and in Turkish as Tatlı İkizler. Subtitled versions of the show aired in several countries, including Denmark, Estonia[46], Israel, Norway[47] and Sweden.[48]
In 1997, Grattan signed a deal with Saban Entertainment to launch a line of clothing based on the Sweet Valley High television series, due to its popularity with UK viewers.[49] The line launched in 1998.[50]
Home media
In August 1996, two Sweet Valley HighVHS tapes were released by WarnerVision Entertainment and Saban Home Entertainment[51] titled 'Kidnapped' and 'Dangerous Love', which featured exclusive music videos based on the songs featured in the TV series, and behind the scenes footage.[52] Although more releases were planned, they never saw the light of day after WEA folded WarnerVision Entertainment into Warner Home Video and ended their agreement with Saban.[53]
On March 8, 2005, Buena Vista Home Entertainment released the complete first season of Sweet Valley High on DVD in Region 1.[54][55] A DVD release of Season two was also planned, with an old promotional trailer being posted online in 2013; however, this release was cancelled.[56]
Streaming
All four seasons of the series are streaming on Prime Video,[57] only for US Region as of January 19, 2023.
Soundtrack
In 1995, a soundtrack album was released featuring original songs that were in the series along with a longer version of the show's theme song (sung by Kathy Fisher).[58]
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